Parental controls for multiple devices

ABSTRACT

A method of controlling access to electronic content across a plurality of devices includes creating a user profile associated with a user based on profile input from the user or an administrator and generating a universal content control profile (UCCP) based on the user profile. At least one of the user profile and the UCCP is then stored to a computer readable storage medium. Based on the UCCP and a device-type of a selected electronic device, a content control setting (CCS) is determined for the selected electronic device. Upon detecting a communication channel with the selected electronic device, the method includes providing the CCS to the selected electronic device.

BACKGROUND

1. Field of the Disclosure

The present disclosure relates to content management and, moreparticularly, parental based controls on access to content by children.

2. Description of the Related Art

The use of parental controls and other types of content controls is wellknown for preventing or limiting access to electronic content,especially including preventing or limiting access by children.Generally, conventional parent control techniques have beendevice-centric with each type of device or service providing support forhighly localized and user specific parental control functionality.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of selected elements of an embodiment of homeenvironment emphasizing multiple electronic devices;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating selected elements of anembodiment of a multimedia handling device suitable for use in theenvironment of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating selected elements of a method forproviding universal content control restrictions;

FIG. 4 depicts aspects of an exemplary user profile;

FIG. 5 illustrates a client application accessing a user profile togenerate a universal content control profile; and

FIG. 6 illustrates the integration of a universal content controlprofile and a set of industry specific or device specific or media-typespecific ratings or guidelines to develop content control settings thatare specific to and compatible with a particular electronic device.

DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

In one aspect, a disclosed method of controlling access to electroniccontent across a plurality of devices includes creating a user profile,associated with a user, based on profile input provided by the user oran administrator. A universal content control profile (UCCP) is thengenerated based on the user profile. At least one of the user profilesand the UCCP is stored to a computer readable storage medium. Thedisclosed method further includes determining, based on the UCCP and adevice-type of a selected electronic device, a content control setting(CCS) for the selected electronic device. When a communication channelwith the selected electronic device is subsequently detected, the CCS isprovided to the selected electronic device.

The method may be provided as a special purpose application executing ona set top box or other type of customer premises equipment of the useror a subscriber associated with the user including for example, asubscriber/administrator who is a parent and a user who is the parent'schild. A user profile interface that facilitates entry of the profileinput may be provided to the user or administrator via a set top box orvia a web browser.

The method may include generating a password associated with the CCS andimplementing the password on the selected electronic device. Providingthe CCS to the electronic device may occur after detecting acommunication connection including, as examples, an 802.11-type (WiFi)connection, a Bluetooth connection, a wired Ethernet connection, and acellular telephony connection.

Determining the CCS may include applying the UCCP to or integrating theUCCP with content-type specific standards. The content-type specificstandards may be selected from the group consisting of Motion PictureAssociation of America (MPAA) standards, TV Parental Guidelines,Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB) standards, and the like. TheUCCP may be generated based entirely, substantially, or partially on theage of the user as indicated in the user profile. Alternatively, theUCCP may be generated based on an adjusted user age. The adjusted userage may represent the actual age of the user plus or minus an ageadjustment that reflects, for example, the user's maturity levelrelative to the user's peers. A user with advanced maturity mightwarrant an adjusted user age that exceeds the user's actual age while animmature user might benefit from an adjusted user age that is less thanthe user's actual age.

In other aspects, the disclosed subject matter is implemented as acomputer or other type of data processing system. The computer includesa computer readable storage medium having instructions for implementinguniversal content control. In other embodiments, the disclosed subjectmatter encompasses an optical disc or other type of computer readablemedium on which are stored instructions for carrying out a method ofcentralizing content control or parental control in a single applicationcapable of communication with all or most of the electronic devices towhich the user has access.

In the following description, details are set forth by way of example tofacilitate discussion of the disclosed subject matter. It should beapparent to a person of ordinary skill in the field, however, that thedisclosed embodiments are exemplary and not exhaustive of all possibleembodiments. Throughout this disclosure, a hyphenated form of areference numeral refers to a specific instance of an element and theun-hyphenated form of the reference numeral refers to the elementgenerically or collectively. Thus, for example, widget 12-1 refers to aninstance of a widget class, which may be referred to collectively aswidgets 12 and any one of which may be referred to generically as awidget 12.

Referring to FIG. 1, a block diagram depicting selected elements of anembodiment of an environment 100 suitable for implementing universalcontent control as described herein is presented. In the depictedembodiment, environment 100 includes various electronic devices, each ofwhich may have functionality enabling parents, guardians, or otheradministrators to invoke parental control or another type of contentcontrol mechanism. Environment 100 as depicted in FIG. 1 includeselements of client-side hardware used in conjunction with multimediacontent delivery services including, as examples, Internet protocoltelevision (IPTV) as well as conventional cable television systems.Although the depicted embodiment of environment 100 illustrates oremphasizes specific features and/or services, other embodiments mayinclude or emphasize fewer, more, and/or different features and/orservices.

As depicted in FIG. 1, environment 100 includes various consumerelectronic devices including a video game console 130, a desktop orlaptop personal computer (PC) 120, a cellular telephony device 140, amedia player 150, and a display 110 connected to a multimedia handlingdevice (MHD) 104. MHD 104 may be implemented as a set top box anddisplay 110 may be part of a television. A remote control 105 operatesin conjunction with MHD 104.

A residential gateway (RG) 106 provides an interface and enables aconnection between the client side electronic devices and an accessnetwork 160. Access network 160 may be a private network operated by anInternet service provider, an IPTV or other type of multimedia contentprovider, or another operator.

RG 106 may be operable to establish communication channels with each ofthe various types of electronic devices operated within environment 100.RG 106 may support, for example, wired Ethernet connections and variouslocal wireless protocols including IEEE 802.11-family (WiFi)connections, Bluetooth connections, and so forth. In the depictedembodiment, wireless telephony device 140 and media player 150 areillustrated communicating with RG 106 via a local wireless protocol. Inaddition, PC 120 and game console 130 are illustrated connected to RG106 via a wired connection such as a wired Ethernet connection.

Access network 160 may be an IP-based network that enables connectionsbetween clients, such as the client 102 depicted in FIG. 1, and abackbone network 170 of the service provider. Backbone network 170 maybe insulated from access network 160 by a firewall 162 designed toreduce the prospect of an attack on access network 160. Backbone network170 may represent a fiber optic or other type of broadband networkdesigned to carry a service provider's mission critical applications anddata between network endpoints.

As depicted in FIG. 1, an application server 180 and a user storedatabase 190 are depicted connected to backbone network 170. In thedepicted embodiment, application server 180 includes various softwaremodules including as depicted, a parent control application 184, as wellas a set of data structures including, as examples, content-typespecific standards 182, CCS 186 and a UCCP 188. In addition, user storedatabase 190 includes a user profile 192.

Referring now to FIG. 2, a block diagram illustrating selected elementsof an embodiment of MHD 104 is presented.

In the embodiment depicted in FIG. 2, MHD 104 includes processor 201coupled via shared bus 202 to storage media collectively identified asstorage 210. MHD 104, as depicted in FIG. 2, further includes networkadapter 220 that interfaces MHD 104 to RG 106 and through which MHD 104receives multimedia content.

In embodiments suitable for use in IP based content delivery networks,MHD 104, as depicted in FIG. 2, may include transport unit 230 thatassembles the payloads from a sequence or set of network packets into astream of multimedia content. In coaxial based access networks, contentmay be delivered as a stream that is not packet based and it may not benecessary in these embodiments to include transport unit 230. In aco-axial implementation, however, clients 102 may require tuningresources (not explicitly depicted in FIG. 2) to “filter” desiredcontent from other content that is delivered over the coaxial mediumsimultaneously and these tuners may be provided in MHD 104. The streamof multimedia content received by transport unit 230 may include audioinformation and video information and transport unit 230 may parse orsegregate the two to generate video stream 232 and audio stream 234 asshown.

Video and audio streams 232 and 234, as output from transport unit 230,may include audio or video information that is compressed, encrypted, orboth. A decoder unit 240 is shown as receiving video and audio streams232 and 234 and generating native format video and audio streams 242 and244. Decoder 240 may employ any of various widely distributed videodecoding algorithms including any of the Motion Pictures Expert Group(MPEG) standards or Windows Media Video (WMV) standards including WMV 9which has been standardized as Video Codec-1 (VC-1) by the Society ofMotion Picture and Television Engineers. Similarly decoder 240 mayemploy any of various audio decoding algorithms including Dolby®Digital, Digital Theatre System (DTS) Coherent Acoustics, and WindowsMedia Audio (WMA).

The native format video and audio streams 242 and 244 as shown in FIG. 2may be processed by encoders/digital-to-analog converters(encoders/DACs) 250 and 260 respectively to produce analog video andaudio signals 252 and 254 in a format compliant with display 110, whichitself may not be a part of MHD 104. Display 110 may comply withNational Television System Committee (NTSC), Phase Alternating Line(PAL) or any other suitable television standard.

Storage 210 encompasses persistent and volatile media, fixed andremovable media, and magnetic and semiconductor media. Storage 210 isoperable to store instructions, data, or both. Storage 210 as shownincludes sets or sequences of instructions, namely, an operating system212, a remote control application program identified as RC module 214,and a universal content control (UCC) client application 216. Operatingsystem 212 may be a UNIX or UNIX-like operating system, a Windows®family operating system, or another suitable operating system. In someembodiments, storage 210 is configured to store and execute instructionsprovided as services to client 102 by an application server.

In some embodiments, universal content control as disclosed herein isimplemented in software or primarily in software or software components.In these embodiments, universal content control may be implemented as aset of computer executable instructions stored on a computer readablemedium. The instructions may be operable, when executed, to execute aprocess such as the process 300 depicted in FIG. 3.

Referring to FIG. 3, the depicted flow diagram represents an embodimentof a process for implementing universal content control. In the depictedembodiment, method 300 includes creating (block 302) a user profileassociated with a user. The user profile may be based on profile inputprovided by the user or an administrator. In some applications, the userrepresents the individual, e.g., a child, whose content accessprivileges are being controlled by an administrator of environment 100.The administrator represents the parent, guardian, or other caretaker ofthe user. The user profile may include characteristics of the userincluding, for example, name, address, age, content preferences, areasof interest, occupation, school, and so forth. In addition, the userprofile may include information specific to the user including, asexamples, email address, screen names, identities, and so forth.

Method 300 as shown further includes generating (block 304) a UCCP basedon the user profile and storing (block 306) the user profile, the UCCP,or both to a computer readable storage medium including, for example,storage 210 depicted in FIG. 2. Based on the UCCP and a device-type of aselected electronic device, a CCS is determined (block 308) for the userand the selected electronic device.

After the CCS is determined in block 308, the CCS is provided (block322) to the selected electronic device when a communication channel canbe established (block 310) between the device executing the UCCS clientapplication. For example, if MHD 104 is executing UCCS clientapplication 216, the CCS is provided to the electronic device when acommunication channel between the electronic device and the MHD 104 and,more precisely, when a communication channel between the electronicdevice and MHD 104 is established via RG 106. For electronic devicesincluding cellular telephony device 140 and media player 150 thatconnect to RG 106 wirelessly, the CCS is provided to the electronicdevice when the device is brought within local wireless range of RG 106.For electronic devices 120 and 130 that connect to RG 106 via a wirelineconnection depicted in FIG. 1, the CCS is provided to the electronicdevice when the electronic device (120 or 130) is connected to anEthernet or other suitable port of RG 106.

FIG. 4 depicts selected elements of an embodiment of a user profile 400suitable for use in the universal content control methods describedherein. In the depicted embodiment, user profile 400 includes a set ofentries 410 including entries 410-1 and 410-2, which are explicitlydepicted. In the depicted embodiment, each entry 410 includes a userfield 402, an age field 404, and a profile setting 406. The user field402 may include a full name, a given name or other type of nickname, ascreen name, and so forth. The age field 404 indicates the user's ageand the profile setting field 406 may be used to enable an administratorto adjust the content control settings that are produced, based on theadministrator's perception about the maturity of the applicable userrelative to the user's peers.

As depicted in FIG. 4, profile setting field 406 may include any of atleast four values including a +n value, an A value, a −n value, and a Cvalue. In the depicted embodiment, the A value may be the default andindicates the administrator's desire for the UCCS client application 216to generate content control settings for the user based solely orprimarily on the user's age. This setting may be appropriate when theuser is of average maturity relative to the user's peer group.

If an administrator perceives that the applicable user is more or lessmature or emotionally or mentally developed than the user's peers, theadministrator may implement this perception in the content controlsettings by indicating a +n or −n value in the field 406 where n is aninteger greater than or equal to 1. In some embodiments, a −n value inprofile setting field 406 indicates the administrator's belief that theuser is approximately n years developmentally younger than the user'speers. Conversely, a +n designation indicates a belief or desire togenerate user settings that are typical of children n years older thanthe viewer.

Although the embodiment of user profile 400 includes just a single field406 for defining default or automated content control settings, otherembodiments may employ multiple fields 406 in user profile 400 todifferentiate the profile settings field according to the contentcategory. Thus, for example, profile 400 may include additional fields(not depicted) that indicate values for generating CCS settings forviolent content, sexually suggestive or explicit content, contentcontaining profane or offensive dialogue, and so forth.

FIG. 4 as shown also indicates “C” as a possible value for field 406.The C value may indicate a custom field in which content controlsettings are determined in a manual process. A value of C in the profilesetting may cause UCCS client application 216 to stop automatedgeneration of a UCCP and permit the administrator or user to define aprofile for the user.

In some embodiments, UCCS client application 216 opens or otherwiseaccesses user profile 400, as depicted in FIG. 5, to generate a UCCP502. UCCP 502 may indicate content control settings based on an open,universal, device-independent, device-type-independent standard forcategorizing all types of content including computer-accessed content,e.g., web sites, blogs, chat rooms, social network sites, and so forth,multimedia content including video-on-demand and television content,music content, and so forth. The UCCP 502 may, for example, classifychildren according to one of several age-based categories where theupper and lower limits on each of the boundaries and the actual numbersof boundaries may predetermined by an open standards setting body.

FIG. 6 depicts selected elements of UCCS client application 216generating device specific content control settings 602 based, at leastin part, on the UCCP 502. As depicted in FIG. 6, UCCS client application216 may retrieve or otherwise access UCCP 502 and obtain informationindicative of any device type and/or content type settings specific tothe user. Various industries may propose content ratings guidelinesincluding age based guidelines, content based guidelines, or both.Examples of industry based ratings guidelines include the MPAA's wellknown ratings for motion pictures, the TV Parental Guidelines forbroadcast and cable channel content in the United States, and the ESRBratings for video games.

In some embodiments, UCCS client application 216 may generate orotherwise determine a CCS for a specific electronic device byintegrating any device specific or industry standard ratings with theUCCP 502 to determine CCSs 602 that are specific to the electronicdevice and the content type that the electronic device plays.

To the maximum extent allowed by law, the scope of the presentdisclosure is to be determined by the broadest permissibleinterpretation of the following claims and their equivalents, and shallnot be restricted or limited to the specific embodiments described inthe foregoing detailed description.

1. A method of controlling access to electronic content across aplurality of devices, the method comprising: creating a user profileassociated with a user based on profile input from at least one of theuser or an administrator; generating a universal content control profile(UCCP) based on the user profile; storing at least one of the userprofile and the UCCP to a computer readable storage medium; determining,based on the UCCP and a device-type of a selected electronic device, acontent control setting (CCS) for the selected electronic device; andresponsive to detecting a communication channel with the selectedelectronic device, providing the CCS to the selected electronic device.2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: generating, by a set topbox, a user profile interface enabling the profile input; and displayingthe user profile interface on a display device connected to the set topbox.
 3. The method of claim 1, further comprising: generating, by aweb-based application, a user profile interface enabling theadministrator to provide the administrator input; and displaying theuser profile interface via a web browser.
 4. The method of claim 1,further comprising: generating a password associated with the CCS; andimplementing the password on the selected electronic device.
 5. Themethod of claim 1, wherein said providing the CCS is responsive todetecting a communication connection selected from the group consistingof: an 802.11-type (WiFi) connection, a Bluetooth connection, a wiredEthernet connection, and a cellular telephony connection.
 6. The methodof claim 1, wherein said determining of the CCS includes applying theUCCP to content-type specific standards.
 7. The method of claim 6,wherein the content-type specific standards are selected from the groupconsisting of Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) standards, TVParental Guidelines, and Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB)standards.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein said generating of the UCCPcomprises generating the UCCP based on an age of the user as indicatedin the user profile.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein said generatingof the UCCP comprises generating the UCCP based on an adjusted user age,wherein the adjusted user age is computed based on an actual age of theuser as indicated in the profile adjusted by an administrator providedage delta.
 10. A computer program product comprising computer executableinstructions, stored on a computer readable medium, for controllingaccess to electronic content across a plurality of devices, theinstructions comprising instructions for: creating a user profileassociated with a user based on profile input from at least one of theuser or an administrator; generating a universal content control profile(UCCP) based on the user profile; storing at least one of the userprofile and the UCCP to a computer readable storage medium; determining,based on the UCCP and a device-type of a selected electronic device, acontent control setting (CCS) for the selected electronic device; andresponsive to detecting a communication channel with the selectedelectronic device, providing the CCS to the selected electronic device.11. The computer program product of claim 10, further comprisinginstructions for: generating a password associated with the CCS; andproviding the password to the selected electronic device.
 12. Thecomputer program product of claim 10, wherein said instructions forproviding the CCS is responsive to a detecting a communicationconnection selected from the group consisting of: an 802.11-type (WiFi)connection, a Bluetooth connection, a wired Ethernet connection, and acellular telephony connection.
 13. The computer program product of claim10, wherein said instructions for determining of the CCS includesinstructions for applying the UCCP to content-type specific standards.14. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein the content-typespecific standards are selected from the group consisting of MotionPicture Association of America (MPAA) standards, TV Parental Guidelines,and Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB) standards.
 15. Thecomputer program product of claim 10, wherein said instructions forgenerating of the UCCP comprises instructions for generating the UCCPbased on an age of the user as indicated in the user profile.
 16. Thecomputer program product of claim 10, wherein said instructions forgenerating of the UCCP comprises instructions for generating the UCCPbased on an adjusted user age, wherein the adjusted user age is computedbased on an actual age of the user as indicated in the profile adjustedby an administrator provided age delta.
 17. A processing systemincluding processor and computer readable storage, accessible to theprocessor, the computer readable medium storing computer executableinstructions for controlling access to electronic content, theinstructions comprising instructions for: creating a user profileassociated with a user based on profile input from at least one of theuser or an administrator; generating a universal content control profile(UCCP) based on the user profile; storing at least one of the userprofile and the UCCP to a computer readable storage medium; determining,based on the UCCP and a device-type of a selected electronic device, acontent control setting (CCS) for the selected electronic device; andresponsive to detecting a communication channel with the selectedelectronic device, providing the CCS to the selected electronic device.18. The system of claim 17, further comprising instructions for:generating, by a set top box, a user profile interface enabling theprofile input; and displaying the user profile interface on a displaydevice connected to the set top box.
 19. The system of claim 17, whereinsaid instructions for providing the CCS is responsive to a detecting acommunication connection selected from the group consisting of: an802.11-type (WiFi) connection, a Bluetooth connection, a wired Ethernetconnection, and a cellular telephony connection.
 20. The system of claim17, wherein said instructions for determining of the CCS includesinstructions for applying the UCCP to content-type specific standards.21. The system of claim 20, wherein the content-type specific standardsare selected from the group consisting of Motion Picture Association ofAmerica (MPAA) standards, TV Parental Guidelines, and EntertainmentSoftware Ratings Board (ESRB) standards.
 22. The system of claim 17,wherein said instructions for generating of the UCCP comprisesinstructions for generating the UCCP based on an age of the user asindicated in the user profile.
 23. The system of claim 17, wherein saidinstructions for generating of the UCCP comprises instructions forgenerating the UCCP based on an adjusted user age, wherein the adjusteduser age is computed based on an actual age of the user as indicated inthe profile adjusted by an administrator provided age delta.